Protective cover

ABSTRACT

A protective cover is comprised of a flexible material, such as natural latex, and may be colored or may include a design. A hole may be included for inserting a straw or as a drinking spout, and the hole may be reinforced. The protective cover may be comprised of a central circular portion and a circumferential side portion and may be sized for fitting bar glasses. An edge on the side portion may be formed by folding the edge over itself and adhering the folded layers together, providing a resilient elastic band for retaining the protective cover on a glass.

CROSS-RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/417,765 filed Mar. 12, 2012 which claims priority to the filing dateof U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/451,800 filed Mar. 11, 2011 herbyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field relates to covers on cups and glasses.

BACKGROUND

Hard plastic caps and covers are known that protect beverages fromspilling. Many of these are disposable, but adoption of hard plasticcaps and covers in cocktail and bar settings has not proven popular oracceptable.

There is a danger in leaving a drink with an open top on a counter,table or even when held that a foreign substance may be introduced intothe drink, such as an intoxicant, date rape drug, illegal drug or a bug.

SUMMARY

A protective cover comprises a flexible material, such as natural latex,synthetic rubber or flexible plastic membrane. The protective cover maybe formed in a cup-shape having an inner circular portion that may besubstantially flat and a circumferential portion extendingcircumferentially around the circular portion. The edge of thecircumferential portion may comprise an elastic band. The elastic bandmay be formed of a material different than the flexible material of thecover or may be comprised of the flexible material rolled a plurality oftimes to form an outer edge of the material integrally forming anelastic band.

A hole may be provided in the flexible material to allow a straw to beinserted through the hole. For example, a diameter of the hole may beselected such that a seal is formed around the straw, such that tippingthe glass or sloshing the liquid in a glass does not result in a spill,when the protective cover is placed on a glass filled with a beverage.The hole may be reinforced either by a framing element added around thehole or around a portion of the material defining the hole. In oneexample, the reinforcement is by a thickening of the material around thehole. In one example an additional hole, which may be the same size or adifferent size than the first hole, is added. This second hole may befor sipping from the cover, while the first hole may be provided for usewith a straw. Each hole may have a sealable tab extending over the hole,which may be peeled away. The sealable tab may be made of the samematerial as the cover or a different material. For example, the sealabletab may comprise a transparent plastic material, such as polyethylene, afoil, such as an aluminum foil, a latex material, such as the samematerial from which the cover is made, and combinations of these. In oneexample, the sealable tab has a tacky substance on a portion of asurface in contact with the cover. The sealable tab may have no tackysubstance on another portion of the tab. The tacky substance may be atacky polymer material, such as the materials used for sticking creditcards to paper, which are referred to as pressure sensitive adhesives. Aconvenient way of applying pressure sensitive adhesives is using asubstrate on which the dots are removably adhered, such as a siliconerelease liner with a fugitive adhesive or pressure sensitive adhesivereleasable extruded onto the release liner. One portion of the tab,without any tacky substance added or with a masking material coveringthe tacky substance, may be provided as a lift tab portion to allow thesealable tab to be easily removed by a user of the cover. In this way,the cover may have a plurality of holes, sealed by sealable pull tabs,allowing the user to select one or more holes for use with a straw orfor sipping. In one example, the degree of tackiness of the adhesiveapplied is varied, such that one portion of the sealable pull tab isbound tightly to the cover, while the remaining tacky material allowsthe sealable pull tab to be repeatedly repositioned over the hole, whenthe user of the cover is not sipping his or her drink.

Three manufacturers and eight designs were tested. All of the initialdesigns failed to provide the desired qualities of sealing an ordinaryglass bar glass while providing a through-hole for a straw.Unexpectedly, a preferred example seals a bar glass from spillage evenwhen the drink is held upside down for a short period with a strawinserted into the drink.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a top plan view of an example of a protective cover.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side plan view of the example illustrated in FIG.1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed view of an example of a hole with awasher.

FIG. 4 illustrates a detail of a pull tab, washer and a portion of acover with a hole in an exploded view.

FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of a cover with a plurality of pull tabs.

FIG. 6 illustrates a detail of a washer.

FIG. 7 illustrates a detail of a pull tab.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, a flexible material having a thickness t is shown that has asubstantially flat, circular portion 13 with a circular diameter D. Astraw hole 11 is disposed off center in the circular portion 13 and hasa hole diameter d. A rolled edge 14 is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. InFIG. 2, the rolled edge 14 is the outer edge of circumferential side 12extending from the circular portion 13 a height H, which side 12 extendscup-like from the circular portion 13 of the protective cover 10 betweenthe circular portion 13 and the rolled edge 14. The flexible materialmay be a latex or other flexible elastic material or rubber. Thematerial may be colored in a variety of colors, as is known in the art,such as by adding colorants to the material used in forming the covers.In one example, the covers are packaged together in a variety of colors,allowing users to select there preferred color, which helps to identifya user's drink from others' drinks. In another example, each cover ispackaged in an individual protective package, and the color of the coveris reflected by the same color being shown on the protective package. Inone example, the protective package is a foil, such as an aluminum foilor film, which may be combined with a layer of paper or plastic In oneexample, the edge 14 is a flat rim prepared by folding natural latexover itself three times and curing it to bind the layers of the rimtogether.

In one example, the straw hole 11 diameter d was selected to be lessthan 0.1875 inches 0.48 centimeters, preferably 0.075 inches to 0.095inches (1.9 mm to 2.4 mm), which fit the largest variety of straw sizesand provided a seal around the straw preventing leaking between thestraw and the flexible material. In one example, the straw hole 11 isoff-center, such that the hole is close enough to the edge to allowsipping of a drink from a bar glass. In one example, the hole diameteris 0.075 inches (1.9 mm).

In one example, the diameter D of the circular portion 13 is selected tobe in a range from 2 inches to 3.75 inches (5.1 cm to 9.5 cm), morepreferably 2.45 inches to 2.55 inches (6.2 cm to 6.5 cm), which providesfor a seal on most bar glasses that prevent leaking of liquid betweenthe protective cover 10 and the lip of a bar glass over which theprotective cover is stretched. In one example, the diameter is 2.75inches (about 7 cm) and the hole is located 0.833 inches from thenearest edge of the circular portion 13.

In one example, the height H of the circumferential side portion 12 ofthe protective cover 10 is selected to be greater than 0.85 inches (2.2cm), more preferably in a range from 0.9 inches to 1.5 inches (2.3 cm to3.8 cm), most preferably 1 inch to 1.25 inches (2.5 cm to 3.2 cm), whichprovides a side height H that prevents the protective cover 10 fromsnapping and flying off of the most common sizes of bar glasses. In oneexample, the height is 4.25 inches (3.2 cm).

In one example, the thickness t of the material of the protective cover10 is substantially uniform and is selected in a range from 0.005 inchesto 0.1 inches (0.13 mm to 2.5 mm), more preferably 0.005 inches to 0.01inches (0.13 mm to 0.25 mm), most preferably 0.005 inches to 0.0074inches (0.13 mm to 0.19 mm), which provides an optimal thickness ofnatural latex capable of being stretched over a larger selection of themost common bar glasses. In one example, the thickness is 0.01 inches(0.25 mm) and the material is natural latex.

In one example, a washer 21 surrounds a hole 11 in the circular portion13. The washer maintained the shape of the hole and allowed a straw tobe easily inserted. However, the washer failed to keep liquid fromleaking between the straw and the washer. FIGS. 4-6 illustrate analternative embodiment of a cover 40 that includes a washer assembly 41.In one example, the hole in a washer assembly 41 is made larger than thehole 42 in the material of the cover 40. The washer assembly 41 mayinclude the washer 21, itself, which may be made of an elastic material,which may be the same material as the cover or a different material. Thewasher 21 is applied to the cover using a pressure sensitive adhesivelayer 61 of the washer assembly 41. In one example, the washer assembly41 includes a sealable pull tab 43 resealably adhered to the washer 41with a pressure sensitive adhesive ring 45, such as a Glue Dots®pressure sensitive adhesive, having a low tackiness. A second pressuresensitive adhesive ring 61 with a higher degree of tackiness may beapplied to the surface of the washer 21 that adheres to the cover 40,for example. This allows the pull tab 43 to be peeled back from orpulled free from the washer 21 without the washer 21 being removed fromthe cover 40. For example, the pull tab 43 includes a portion 44 thatextends beyond the outer perimeter of the washer for use by the user ofthe cover in peeling back or removing the pull tab 43, which may beadhesively engageable in an open position by application of pressuresensitive adhesive or may be removable or both. A pressure sensitiveretainer 48 may be made of a pressure sensitive material with very lowtackiness and may be disposed on a surface of the cover at a locationconvenient for retaining the pull tab 43 when peeled back but notdisengaged from the washer 21.

FIGS. 6-7 illustrate another example of a pull tab 47, which is directlyadhered to a cover 40 without the need of an intervening washer 21. Inthis example, the pull tab 47 includes an adhesive layer 75 and amasking layer 77 that covers a portion of the adhesive layer 75, wherethe pull tab 47 covers a hole in the cover 40.

TABLE I Examples D t washer d hole H Ex. (cm) (mm) (cm) (mm) positionmaterial band (cm) 1 7.6 — 1.5 4.8 center plastic 0.64 2.5 rubber 2 7.60.18 1.5 4.8 center natural latex 5 x rolled 1.3 3 6.4 0.25 — — —natural latex 5 x rolled 0 4 6.4 0.23 — — — natural latex 5 x rolled 0 56.4 0.13 — 4.8 center natural latex 5 x rolled 0.85 6 6.4 0.13 — 2.4off-center natural latex 5 x rolled 2.5 7 6.4-7.6 0.13-0.25 — 1.9-2.4off-center natural latex rolled 2.5-3.8 5-6 x 8 7.0-9.5 0.13-2.54 —1.9-2.4 off-center natural latex rolled 2.5-4.5 5-6 x

TABLE II Example Results Ex. Results 1 Failed - leakage between hole andstraw; rubber band fixed to glass side but plastic ripped away 2Failed - leakage between hole and straw; protective cover snapped awayand flew from glass 3 Failed - excessive thickness to stretch over mostglasses; snapped away and flew from glass 4 Failed - excessive thicknessto stretch over most glasses; snapped away and flew from glass 5Failed - hole size stretches during fitting on glass and leakage causedbetween hole and straw; height of side wall portion too shallow; snappedaway and flew from glass 6 SUCCESS 7 SUCCESS 8 SUCCESS

What is claimed is:
 1. A protective cover comprises: a flexible materialhaving a circular portion, the circular portion having a center portionextending outwardly from a center point of the circular portion, thecenter portion being substantially planar with respect to a referenceplane; a circular hole disposed off center from the center point of thecircular portion within the center portion; a circumferential sideextending in a direction extending substantially transversely from thereference plane along a circumference of the circular portion; and anedge formed on a distal end of the circumferential side away from thecircular portion; a washer, wherein the washer surrounds the circularhole and reinforces the flexible material around the circular hole; anda pull tab sealably disposed on the washer and covering the hole,wherein the pull tab is removable by pulling on the pull tab.
 2. Thecover of claim 1, wherein the flexible material is a natural latex. 3.The cover of claim 2, wherein the natural latex is colored.
 4. The coverof claim 1, further comprising a pull tab, wherein the pull tab coversthe hole.
 5. The cover of claim 1, wherein the hole has a diameterselected in a range less than 0.48 centimeters.
 6. The cover of claim 5,wherein the hole diameter is selected in a range of 1.9 millimeters to2.4 millimeters.
 7. The cover of claim 6, wherein the hole diameter is1.9 millimeters.
 8. The cover of claim 6, wherein the circular portionhas a diameter selected in a range of 5.1 centimeters to 9.5centimeters.
 9. The cover of claim 8, wherein the circular portiondiameter is selected in a range of 6.2 centimeters to 6.5 centimeters.10. The cover of claim 9, wherein the circular portion diameter is about7 centimeters.
 11. The cover of claim 9, wherein a height of thecircumferential side is selected such that the distance from the edge tothe circumference of the circular portion is greater than 2.2centimeters.
 12. The cover of claim 11, wherein the circumferential sideheight is selected in a range of 2.3 centimeters to 3.8 centimeters. 13.The cover of claim 12, wherein the circumferential side height isselected in a range of 2.5 centimeters to 3.2 centimeters.
 14. The coverof claim 13, wherein the circumferential side height is 3.2 centimeters.15. The cover of claim 13, wherein the flexible material has a thicknessselected in a range of 0.13 millimeters to 2.5 millimeters.
 16. Thecover of claim 15, wherein the flexible material thickness is selectedin a range of 0.13 millimeters to 0.25 millimeters.
 17. The cover ofclaim 16, wherein the flexible material thickness is 0.25 millimeters.18. The cover of claim 1, wherein the flexible material has a thicknessselected in a range of 0.13 millimeters and 0.25 millimeters and thecircular portion has a diameter selected in a range of 5.1 centimetersto 9.5 centimeters.
 19. The cover of claim 1, wherein the flexiblematerial has a thickness selected in a range of 0.13 millimeters and0.25 millimeters, and the edge is formed by folding the distal end ofthe circumferential side over itself.
 20. The cover of claim 19, whereinthe distal end is folded over three times.
 21. The cover of claim 20,wherein the flexible material is natural latex, and the edge is curedafter it is formed, such that a flat rim is formed by binding foldedlayers of the edge together during curing.